


Five times Alex surprised Forrest and one time he didn’t

by benkouji



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Jealous Guerin made some appearances, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Some light angst, but it was eventually Forlex, forlex, pwp with some feelings in chapter 3, smut in chapter 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24914338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benkouji/pseuds/benkouji
Summary: Forrest maybe head over heels for Alex since very early stages of their relationship, but Alex is also not that far behind.
Relationships: Forrest Long/Alex Manes
Comments: 13
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

1.

It was supposed to be some harmless fun, at first.

Forrest was intuitive, to put it mildly. You didn’t grow up in a Long household and become this well-liked and popular family member by being dense, especially when you were gay. Besides, his gut feeling had saved him more times than he could count in battles, it was one of the reasons his buddies trusted him with their lives.

He was very good at reading people and situations around or between them. He didn’t always care what people thought of him, of others or of themselves, but he noticed all the same and would efficiently use that information to his advantage. Call it his people skills, but it was how he managed to live through his rebellious youth period, his military years, and now his adult life in a backwards town like Roswell, while never stopped being his colorful-haired, emo-poetry-writing, 20 pounds of personality in a 5 pound pocket-sized body self.

So he had known there was something between Alex and Alien Guy even when they first met at the Long farm. As they talked, it was like there were only them in the whole world. The air seemed thicker and more tangible, the atmosphere charged. Then at the diner, Forrest noticed the meaningful glance Alien Guy shot his way. When Alex sang that song, Guerin walked in and they seemed to have some soul searching conversations through their eyes only, well, it was really not that hard a guess who the song was for. And frankly, Alex needed to work on his poker face a LOT if he was ever gonna sell that obvious “it was a long time ago” lie.

But at the time, it hadn’t really mattered. Whatever it was between them, it seemed neither of them was going to make a move. And Alex was so hot sometimes he wondered how the hell he remained single in the first place, but he WAS single, and a smart guy like Forrest was never gonna miss out a perfectly good opportunity to make out with a hot guy and have some fun time with him.

It was supposed to be just like that, some fun, some company, some glorious make out sessions. Nothing heavy or potential heartbreak or anything.

Which was probably why he didn’t even realize he was falling for Alex until it was a bit of too late.

They were dating for two months at that point. Forrest had met almost all of Alex’s friends and family members (the ones who counted as friends and family in Alex’s book anyway), minus Michael Guerin. And Forrest had won them over one by one. He once overheard Liz call him “charming, funny, honest and loyal to a fault”, to a reluctant Isobel Evans, who had been giving him stink eyes ever since he and Alex had gone out, but in their last get-together thingy (Forrest honestly didn’t know how to call these, because they were irregular as fuck, both in schedule and in attending member counts), Isobel joined him at the bar when he was getting them the last round, considered him for a second, patted him on his shoulder without looking at him and said in a small but genuine voice: “You are not half bad”. So Forrest would call it a win.

In hindsight, it should have been his first warning sign that he cared so much of what Alex’s friends think of him. But in his defense, Alex was most at ease when he was with his friends, which meant he would always be sweet, adorable, sometimes sassy, sometimes soft, and had the unique sense of humor in a deadpan way, and Forrest was too busy being charmed to notice it.

So when his platoon buddies, Tony and Chris, came into town to visit him and he brought Alex to have a beer together, he was so caught off guard when Alex went to bathroom and Tony said:

“Man, you’re so gone on him, aren’t you.”

It wasn’t even a question.

Forrest spluttered, red faced, and said, eloquently: “uh, what?”

Tony and Chris changed a look, both amused. “You’ve been staring at him all night, Long. You look at him as if he hung the moon. You can’t seem to keep your hands to yourself, not to be PDA or something, but little touches, I think you didn’t even notice. He made a joke earlier, granted, it WAS hilarious, but the way you laughed, like you think he is the most funny guy in the whole world, which, no offense, is really not the case.”

Tony drank some water after his long ass bullshit, and Chris went in for a final blow. “So in conclusion, you’ve had it bad, dude, like, we’ve-never-seen-you-like-this level bad.”

Forrest was dumbstruck at that. He must’ve seemed like a dumbass too, because they decided to take pity on him, and changed the subject.

“Anyway, you know we’ve been relocated to the nearby base, Tobias and Leo are near enough too. The others all cashed in some long-overdue vacation days so we can have a little get together for our platoon in Santa Fe next month. You should come too.”

OK, that was exciting news. He missed his buddies and would be very happy to spend some time with them.

But Tony hesitated a little before continued: “There is a catch though. We thought it would be nice that we all bring our significant others, or even our children. So it would be a more family style setting. It may not be your thing.”

The thing was, it would totally be Forrest’s thing. He just didn’t know how to say it. With his platoon buddies, he always seemed like the free spirited lone wolf, easygoing, open and honest, but never the one to talk about family issues or kids problems with. But he would enjoy being surrounded by family love and loud but innocent kids, so he opened his mouth to just say that when he was interrupted by a light laugh.

“What are you guys talking about, family and kids and platoon buddies all under the same roof? It’s totally his thing.”

Forrest was startled, both by Alex’s sudden reappearance and his seemingly psychic ability to read his mind. When he remained silent a second too long, Alex apologized.

“Sorry, did I overstep? You actually don’t want to go or...?”

“No! I mean, yes, I wanna go. I just, something they said earlier, it was a lot to unpack. But you are right, I would love to go.” Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

Alex didn’t seem to buy it, but he was kind enough to drop it at the time.

On their drive home though, Alex picked it up again, as Alex would do, because he was a stubborn son of bitch like that.

“You wanna talk about what happened earlier?”

Forrest sighed. Best to just cut to the chase.

“Why did you say it was totally my thing? We didn’t often talk about family and kids, if any.”

Alex frowned, “No, we didn’t normally talk about that stuff. But it’s obvious you like family energy and friendly gatherings, isn’t it? Am I not supposed to know that?”

“But how? I served with my buddies for a long time, we trust each other with our lives. But almost none of them know it.”

“Forrest”, Alex smiled, “you like almost all of your family members, stay friends with a lot of them, despite some of them are real assholes. You even like hanging out with my friends and family too, not just because we are dating, but because you love being around people who give you warm family-like feelings. You organize every open mic night at the pony, and are genuinely interested in the acts and the people behind them, you like to talk to them about their lives and their relationships. You volunteer at the youth shelter. You are, simply put, a people person. You like people, you see good in them, you want to be around them and be a positive influence for them. You don’t necessarily tolerate stupid bigots, and you would be the first to call out their cowardice, but if they are willing to change and be better, you would want to believe in them too.”

He exhaled, oblivious of Forrest’s stunned expression, and continued.

“For a man who has that big a heart, I’d imagine spending some time with his buddies and their families would totally be his thing, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, but...”

“And there’s also your poetry.”

Forrest was getting whiplash tonight, he could hardly keep up.

“My poetry?”

“Yeah, you gave me your emo poetry journal the other day and asked for my opinion?”

“I remember that. In fact, I remember it was a week ago and I still haven’t got any feedback yet.” If he was being honest, he would say he had been a little hurt by that too.

Alex’s face turned a shade pink. “I know I was being a little slow. But I just want to do them justice, you know? I’ve been reading each of them multiple times, so I can get the gist right.”

OK, hurt instantly healed. He really should be concerned how Alex’s words could so easily affect his mood.

“Anyway, the poems you wrote, they are all very pro-humanity, at least in my opinion. Like, the themes vary, some about personal journeys, some about lost love, some about struggling life, some about anger and pain. But the words have something like warmth attached to them, like despite all, there’s hope, and there’s good, in people, in humanity, in the whole world.”

He looked down at his hands then, voice quiet.

“And that’s the thing I like most about you.”

Shit.

“Shit”, It was definitely too soon, but Forrest just can’t not say it. “I think I might be falling for you.”

Alex looked at him right then, hesitated then determined: “I don’t think I’m there yet. But I think I could see myself heading down that road someday.”

He added in a more unsure voice: “Is that OK?”

Forrest reached out, squeezed his hand, and reassured him: “It’s OK”.

And it really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read a LOT of Forlex break-up fics in the last week. And the unfortunate thing is, they were all very good, especially when portraying Forrest. So good that I developed actual FEELINGS for Forrest and now I just want him to have Alex all to himself. Alas, Forlex fic!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little warning: this Chapter is Guerin heavy, and not exactly Guerin friendly. Sorry in advance.

2.

They didn’t talk about Guerin.

To be fair, it was not like Alex purposely had avoided talking about him, just, there had been no good chance to. When they were together, out on a date or stayed in, they had so much to talk about: their shared passion for emotional artistic outlets, either music or poetry, their combat days, and how they both didn’t agree with the concept of war but had no choice but to fight, their different PTSD-symptoms, their true selves, just to name a few. They also had silly and meaningless conversations, like who their favorite slayer was, or how they cried over the new episode of Queer Eye. There was never a dull moment in their three months long relationship, and at no point would Forrest willingly talk about Alex’s ex. He didn’t even know if Guerin WAS Alex’s ex or not, from what he’d gathered from Alex’s friends, they’d not been dating to begin with.

Which brought him to the second scenario where Guerin might have been a topic between them, if he had ever shown to the friend group thingy (still didn’t how to call it) whenever he was around. He knew Guerin would be there, as long as Forrest couldn’t make it. And when they accidentally bumped in each other, whether with or without Alex’s presence, Guerin would always politely nod, mumble something like “howdy”, and turned away. He steered away from open mic nights completely.

So it was not like Forrest could abruptly turn to Alex, when they were in the middle of discussing what they would do after Friday’s dinner date, and said casually, “hey you know Michael Guerin? The one you apparently have been in love with for at least a decade, who, judged by the looks he throws your way when he thinks you are not looking, is also in love with you. Who you wrote an epic love song for and SANG it in front of your family, your colleagues, the whole town, and ME? How is the love between you two doing? Still going strong?”

No, that was not going to happen. Besides, he was kind of afraid what the answer would be. So he asked an easier question.

“Why don’t we just go back to your house, so we can netflix and chill?”

Alex smiled fondly, “We ‘netflix and chill’ed the last Friday. Don’t you want to do something more fun?”

“How dare you to assume any time we spend together is anything but fun, you wounded me, Manes.”

“Oh my God”, Alex laughed, “I thought you were done with the cheeky lines.”

Forrest smirked. “For you? Never.”

Alex shook his head, but he also turned a little pink in his ears, which gave Forrest enough courage to say the next bit.

“And after we ‘chilled’”, he winked, Alex rolled his eyes, “I thought maybe I could spend the night?”

And there it was, the “I don’t think this is a good idea but let me think of a way to let you down gently” face. It came out every time Forrest brought up the sleepover thing.

Honestly, Forrest was a little tired. They were dating three months now, they texted each other almost every single day, they spent time together regularly, they had three or four dates each week, and they ended having sex after ALL of their dates. It was frankly a little ridiculous that they always had to leave after sex to go to their own houses, even when they were bone deep tired and they had tangled in each other in warmth. 

So he interrupted whatever Alex was trying to say, and turned on his most charming smile, even though his voice was a little shaky, because hope mixed with fear for rejection was always scary as fuck.

“I make a killer pancake, if I do say so myself. I’d hate for you to miss out on that.”

Alex blinked. Searched his face for a minute. Looked down. And when he looked up again, the let-down face was gone, and he said, softly but determined, “Well, if you put it that way, I’d hate for me to miss out on that too.”

——————————

Dinner was great. The ‘chill’ part was mind blowing as usual, though they didn’t do much of the netflix part, because, and Forrest could not stress this enough, the chill part was REALLY good and they kinda had a hard time to keep their hands to themselves even after the “chilling”. So they just made out for God know how long, lazily and contently, between laughs and little convos, until they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

That was, until Forrest was startled awake by some loud knocking. Next thing he knew, Alex was already out of bed and headed to his front door.

“Wait, what? Who?” In his defense, he was not fully awake.

Alex threw him an apologizing smile over his shoulder, and gave him a name he least want to hear.

“It’s probably Guerin, and it’s probably nothing. Go back to sleep.” With that, he was gone.

Like hell he was going back to sleep after THAT. 

Sitting up in Alex’s bed, Forrest realized Guerin never spoke while knocking on the door, and Alex was so sure it was him before he even got out of bed. Which did not just suggest their complex relationship, but also indicated it was not a one time occurrence.

Suddenly, Forrest thought of the many times Alex rejected his request to spend the night together and wondered if that was the real reason behind it.

It was insecure and unhealthy as fuck, he knew. And he also knew Alex was never this type of man. But the fact Alex left him in the middle of the night (clock said 2 am, Jesus), and didn’t even hesitate to come to Guerin, was enough to make his blood boil.

So he decided, then and there, fuck it, I’m gonna be petty because I sure as hell feel petty.

They were on Alex’s couch in his living room, sitting respectfully far enough. Guerin’s face was buried in his hands, and Alex was saying something, quiet and soft.

Forrest went out, barefoot, bare chest, came directly in front of Alex, dropped a kiss on his forehead, and said in a sleepy voice:

“What’s wrong, honey? Why aren’t you in bed?”

Only then he pretended to notice Guerin, and acted innocently surprised.

“Alien Guy! What are you doing here, at this hour?”

Through all his antics, both Alex and Guerin seemed frozen on spot. Good. Dramatic effect accomplished.

Then Alex turned to him, gave him his “I know what you are doing but I don’t approve” captain glance, which was unfairly hot, at the same time Guerin blurted out,

“Wait, he is sleeping here now?!” He seemed WAY more upset about this than whatever had been bothering him before he came.

Alex turned his glance to Guerin, added a warning “Michael”, and Guerin deflated like a punctured ballon. He curled in around himself, defeated, and threw some puppy eyes towards Alex. And Alex visibly softened.

They looked in each other’s eyes, seemingly having a silent conversation, and Forrest suddenly felt cold without his shirt and shoes.

He was prepared to be told again that he should go back to bed when Alex spoke, steel in his voice.

“Forrest is my boyfriend, we’ve been dating for three months now. It’s natural that we spend the night together at this point, don’t you think?”

Guerin looked like he was punched in his gut.

Alex stood up, went next to Forrest, and continued.

“You know you can come to me anytime you need me, Michael. And I’m willing to do whatever I can to help you. You’re my family, that’s never gonna change. But your issues with Max, I can’t help you with. It’s something you need to talk to him. Hell, you both should see a therapist together at this point. But you’re never gonna have answers and solutions by coming to me and crying on my shoulders.”

“So what, I can’t talk to my family about my problems, just because they can’t solve it?” Guerin stood up too, anger and hurt all over his face.

“You can, just not after midnight, when my boyfriend is here. So right now, you need to go.”

Guerin looked down, “You don’t have to say the B word again, I heard it first time.” 

He turned around and left, without looking at Forrest even once.

After he slammed the door shut, Alex took several deep breaths, eyes teary, and asked in a small voice.

“I know we need to talk about this”, he leaned in to Forrest, head rest on his shoulder, “but can we talk in the morning? I’m exhausted and just wanna sleep now.”

So they slept.

——————————

Next morning, Forrest was making pancakes and working out some plausible excuses as why he behaved like a goddamn high schooler and preparing for the hurtful but inevitable “look I’m sorry but I still love Michael” speech, when Alex appeared in the kitchen, freshly showered and looking like all of Forrest’s wet dreams rolled into one. It’s so unfair, the high schooler in Forrest whined.

What Alex said though, took him totally by surprise.

“I kinda liked it, you know.”

“...My pancakes? You’ve not had them yet.” He said, knowing perfectly that was not Alex was talking about.

Alex smiled, shyly. “No, I mean, when you came out and claimed your stake on me.”

Forrest blushed. He’d NEVER blushed. “You mean when I made a fool of myself being petty and immature like fuck?”

“Come to think of it, it WAS indeed very irrational and somewhat a dick move, so not adult-like”, Alex teased, but his eyes were warm and fond, “But I liked the fact that you would become this emotion-driven for me. And also the fact you’re willing to fight dirty for me, for us.”

Forrest felt so giddy he could combust. “Be careful there, Manes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you are enabling my bad behavior.”

Alex laughed. “Oh God no. For future reference, I’d prefer we solve our insecurities and problems by communicating, not through some childish possessive bullshit”, he paused, considered for a minute, and said in a quieter voice, “but I get it. I didn’t exactly give you a chance to talk about Guerin and our history, and I didn’t handle the situation very well when he showed up. I should have talked to you before I went to him, I’m sorry.”

Forrest didn’t want to push, he really didn’t. But when it came to Alex, he was seriously lacking impulse control, so he went and asked, “Why didn’t you then?”

Alex seemed to be lost for a moment. But then he began to talk, slowly but surely.

“Michael and I, we had this instant connection and we have loved each other for a long time. But we also shared painful history and a ton of issues. We decided, over and over again, that we didn’t work, but we were always drawn back together like we were being pulled by some invisible strings.”

He inhaled, exhaled. And continued.

“When I sang that song, I didn’t know he was gonna be there. But when he showed up, I thought, well, maybe it was a sign, that I should fight for him one last time, so I looked into his eyes, and bared my heart and soul for him.”

“Then he walked out in the middle of the song.”

He seemed so heartbroken Forrest couldn’t help but went to him and held his hand.

Alex held on tight.

“I decided then and there, I wanna move on, like, truly move on. Free myself and see if I can find someone who makes me happy and for me to make him happy. And I’m so glad that I found you.”

He looked into Forrest eyes then, raw and open.

“I don’t think I’ll ever able to fully stop loving him, it’s like in my blood. He knows this, and he’s under the impression that he is currently not good enough for me, and he’s improving himself, so that when our timing is right, he’d come back and we’ll live happily ever after.”

Forrest felt his heart sank. He wasn’t sure he was able to pick it up again.

“But heart doesn’t work that way. I can’t just order it to wait and not to fall for anyone else. When I’m with someone, I’m all in. I don’t treat them like they’re just a stepping stone for somebody else, that’s not how I’m built. And when I’m all in, I see all of you. And it’s really easy to fall for you, because you are the best thing that happened to me in a very long time.”

Forrest opened his mouth, but no word would come. He felt his emotions were on a roller coaster today, he didn’t even know where to begin to untangle his messy feelings.

Alex took his silence as hesitation and started to pull away.

“I get it if you don’t want to throw yourself in my mess. But I really want to try to work it out. Because you’re worth fighting for. WE are worth fighting for.”

At that, Forrest had no choice but to wipe his tears, hold him and kiss him.

They would fight together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut. SO MUCH SMUT. Basically porn with feelings. And also, BOTTOM Alex, because I’m a selfish person who only writes fanfics to satisfy my own needs.

3.

Alex was VERY responsive.

He was by no means vocal. Hell, he didn’t even make a lot of noise when he came. But the little signs, they were all over the place. 

Like if Forrest kissed the spot under his jawline just right, his whole neck would turn a dark shade of pink, and he’d bare his throat further as if begging for more. And when Forrest tweaked his left nipple, he’d give a little full body shudder and lean helplessly into his touch. He would rub his cock onto Forrest’s belly when they were naked and glued together from head to toe, seemingly not even noticed he had done it, and when Forrest deliberately pushed down so that Alex’s cock was trapped between their bodies and he couldn’t get the friction he so desperately wanted, he’d BITE whatever part of Forrest he could reach, until Forrest laughed and gave him exactly what he needed.

But he almost never spoke during sex, like he was grasping his last bit of control by keeping his voice in, even though he was losing it by every minute. And any time he let out some sort of sound, like content sighs, surprised hums, or little “ah”s when he was truly overwhelmed, Forrest would be so pleased that he savored every one of them in his heart and mind.

It was intoxicating, being the one able to see Alex so open and sensitive, laid bare in front of him, under him, trusting him.

So when Alex walked in his apartment after a day’s work in his FULL UNIFORM, visibly annoyed, anger and impatience boiling under the surface of his barely held together calm demeanor, and he kissed Forrest shortly, said in his captain voice, “Tough day. Give me a minute”, well, it was REALLY not Forrest’s fault that he dropped onto his knees then and there, was it?

Alex seemed startled at first. He looked down, right into Forrest’s smirking eyes, and barked out a laugh.

“Seriously? This turned you on.” It was not a question.

Forrest smiled lazily and suggestively, “What can I say? I love lending a hand to help putting out a fire.”

Alex stepped closer, so that his uniform-clad cock was only a breath away from Forrest’s mouth. He then traced his finger along Forrest’s jawline, stopped at his chin, and lifted his face up.

“Is that all?” He didn’t even drop the CAPTAIN VOICE.

Forrest felt he was on fire himself. He leaned forward, so his face was resting against Alex’s cock now, and he looked up at Alex from under his lashes.

“No, SIR”, he purred, “I’d also love to bend you over my kitchen table, rim you until you are all loose and wet, and fuck you so hard you can’t even remember your name, your rank or your social number.”

Alex dropped his hand and closed his eyes at the “sir”, by the end of Forrest’s words, his breath quickened.

His cock was already half hard.

Then he reached his right hand into Forrest’s hair, pulled it hard until Forrest backed away an inch, and began to unbuckle his belt with his left hand.

Belt opened, he walked back a few steps until he reached the kitchen table. He turned around, pushed his pants down to his thighs, and put his upper body flush onto the table.

He then looked back over his shoulder, ass in the air, cock half erect but still managed to put steel into his voice, “Come on then.”

Forrest was between his legs before he finished those three words he didn’t even know how he got there.

At the first swipe of his tongue into Alex’s cleft tough, Alex parted his legs further, and let out a shaky sigh.

Forrest pulled his cheeks apart, bit the left side, and began to lick him in earnest.

He alternated between licking his hole and rolling his balls into his mouth, hands rubbing his cheeks or roaming his lower back from under his clothes. He didn’t touch his cock even once, but it was leaking pre-cum for minutes now, and Alex’s legs began to shake a little.

When he pushed his middle finger inside Alex, no lube, no warning and a little on the rough side, Alex moaned.

Forrest had to squeeze his own cock so he didn’t come right there.

But lube WAS necessary, so were condoms. Reluctantly, he bit Alex’s ass once again, pulled out his finger, and scrambled to his feet so he could retrieve it from the bathroom.

When he came back, his brain was almost short circuited because Alex was putting his OWN middle finger into his ass.

He grunted, rushed back to Alex, and patted his hand away. Alex tsked, as if annoyed.

So Forrest coated his fingers with a generous amount of lube, and ruthlessly pushed in two fingers all at once, not stopping at the first digits.

Alex made a low voice in his throat, and PUSHED BACK.

Forrest couldn’t help but to thrust, hard, ever so often he scissored his fingers, but he was careful to avoid the prostate.

He didn’t know how long he was at it, because he was almost entranced by Alex’s little grumbles, his smooth back with his uniform lifted under his armpits, and the way he couldn’t seem to stop riding Forrest’s fingers.

Then Alex turned his head around to look at him, eyes watery, pupils blown, and said, “Please.”

That was the first time Alex BEGGED.

Forrest should’ve been more patient, he should’ve added another finger, but he lost all rational thoughts at the shaky “please”. He pulled out his fingers, undid his own pants (he was still fully clothed at that point, Jesus), rolled on a condom and lined his cock up at Alex’s entrance.

He was so proud of himself that he remembered to stop and ask, “Can I?”

Alex answered him by reaching back, grabbing his hips, and pulled Forrest onto him.

After that, Forrest totally lost himself.

He pounded into Alex relentlessly, rhythm a mess. But Alex was just as gone as him, he was pinned down on the table, couldn’t do much other than hold on for dear life, and little moans fell out of his mouth whenever Forrest hit his sweet spot.

When Forrest began to feel his orgasm coming near, he reached around to touch Alex’s cock, but before he got there, Alex made the most beautiful moaning sound he’d ever heard, and came, totally untouched.

Forrest was so shocked he didn’t even register his own orgasm, until he shook inside of Alex and panted onto his back.

After he finally managed to calm down to some degree, he pulled out, pulled up his pants, and was mesmerized by the image in front of him.

Alex was resting on his arms, pants down his thighs, hole red and loose, still bent over the table, still panted, but his face was all open, content, blissful, he even smiled a little.

Forrest felt he was gonna combust with love for this man, so he blurted out, without deciding to do so:

“I love you.”

Fuck.

That was like, the worst timing for love confessions, he was so fucked.

Alex froze. Then he slowly stood up, pulled his pants up, and turned around, expression unreadable.

Forrest was gonna get dumped, he was sure of it.

Then Alex asked, in an unsure voice. “Was it like, a post-coitus I love you, or a real one?”

That was his way out. He could totally say it was just because of the mind blowing sex, nothing serious. He KNEW Alex wasn’t ready, he didn’t want to push him. He opened his mouth to just say that.

“I love you. I’m in love with you. For quite some time now.”

Double fuck. Why couldn’t he lie to Alex, not even once?

He squeezed his eyes shut. And prepared for the gentle let-down.

But Alex went to him, kissed his eyes open, and said with all honesty and happiness:

“I love you too.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy. That’s it that’s the chapter.

4.

Sometimes Forrest thought he should just rename Buffy Long to Buffy Manes and call it a day. Other times he was convinced that Alex only stuck around for the dog. He hadn’t know it was possible to feel jealous for both parties while simultaneously feeling love towards them when he saw two people (in this case a person and a dog) together, but Alex had stirred up so many raw and new feelings in him that it really shouldn’t come as a surprise. 

So there he was, stood in his doorway, coming home from an exhausting work meeting, and was entirely engulfed in this swamp of feelings in his chest he almost stopped breathing for a minute.

Alex, wearing a white sweater and some yoga pants that seemed to be made of the softest material in the whole world, hair a mess, face relaxed and lying down on his stomach; half under Alex’s body, being held loosely but securely by his right arm, was a soft snoring Buffy. 

They were not even lying together on the sofa, but at the foot of the sofa, on the floor, Buffy’s favorite chew toy next to them. Like they had played together for a really long time, both so happy they hadn’t wanted to stop, until they were too tired to even get on the sofa, they had to just lie down right there and fall to sleep, while cuddling.

And to think: Alex never wanted to sleep anywhere other than in the bed because the bed would be nicer to his leg; and Buffy never wanted to sleep next to anyone other than Forrest because she was a PRINCESS like that.

Safe to say it was the most beautiful thing Forrest had ever seen in his whole life.

——————————

More often than not, Forrest woke up to some (one-sided) conversation like this one.

“No, Buffy, you can’t eat that.”

“Don’t give that look, girl. You know I’m just looking out for you. You need healthier diet.”

Forrest smiled. Alex was so gonna lose that battle, again.

“Stop it. I know it always works on your papa, but it’s not gonna work on me.”

Well that’s a lie.

A fond sigh.

“OK, you win. But you have to walk with me a LOT longer today if we’re gonna burn all the extra calories. And this is non-negotiable.”

Yeah, bring out the captain voice. It would do absolutely nothing to the dog except maybe receiving some halfhearted tail wiggling.

And also getting Forrest hot and bothered.

He walked out to the kitchen, stood behind Alex, threw a glance over his shoulder to Buffy, and yep, she was happily eating her treats and totally ignoring Alex’s pretend glares. He hid his smile in between Alex’s shoulder blades, hands reaching around to sneak under his shirt so he could roam his bare stomach, and said in a husky voice:

“Stop fat-shaming my dog and come back to bed. She’s already gotten her treats. Now it’s my turn.”

Alex turned around in his embrace, pulled him even closer so they were only a breath away and looking into each other’s eyes. Then, and only then he rolled his eyes, deliberately and dramatically, he even shook his head a little for extra effect: “Her puppy eyes, your cheeky lines. You both only have ONE move. It’s getting old real fast.”

Well, since Buffy and he both got their treats even before breakfast, he’d have to respectfully disagree.

———————————

One time he walked in on them, snuggled up in bed, and Alex was telling her about his Lizard while SHOWING HER SOME PICTURES too.

“I think you and Willow would have made great friends.” He said, a little wistful, but mostly happy, smile evident in his voice.

Buffy made a low grunting sound in her throat as if she agreed.

———————————

They went to the fair thing regularly now, like some old couple. Forrest secretly liked it. But the catch was, whenever they went there, Alex ended up buying Buffy way too many toys, clothes or little hats. It was getting ridiculous.

“Alex, this is like, the third chew bone in this month alone. She really doesn’t need it.” Forrest whined, knowing perfectly well he was fighting a losing battle.

To his surprise though, Alex dropped the bone (Buffy turned to Forrest to give him the stink eye but he ignored her like a champ), and picked a fluffy teddy instead, which, ok, slightly better, but SO NOT THE POINT.

But Alex showed it to Buffy, she gave a happy wiggling, and next thing he knew, Alex was already paying for it.

Forrest shook his head. “You don’t ever get to say I’m spoiling her again. You are like, the most doting dad ever.”

They both froze at that.

Then Alex looked down at Buffy, smiled softly, and said, “I just like seeing her happy”. He looked up again, still all soft, reached out and held Forrest’s hand. “If that makes me a doting dad, so be it.”

—————————

He changed his screensaver on his phone to a picture of Buffy hugging the teddy that night.

—————————

Alex’s ex (the ex from his military days, not the one still didn’t show up in Forrest’s presence) came to Roswell one day, he called Alex, so the three of them were having a slightly uncomfortable but overall pleasant get-together.

The ex (Bill or something) was charming, funny and friendly. He obviously didn’t hang up on Alex like some other ex so that was a plus, but he sometimes still had heat in his eyes when Alex was smiling beautifully so Forrest decided to dislike him just in principle.

The dislike quickly turned to annoyance when Bill (or something) brought up his dog.

“By the way, Charlie whined when I told him I was gonna see you and I couldn’t bring him along. I guess he still misses you.”

Alex smiled politely, “I miss him too.”

“Please”, the ex snorted, “You never really warmed up to him. You were nice to him, sure, he loved you for it. But you were just not that fond of him. I always assume maybe you’re not a dog person or something.”

OK so the ex was apparently a clueless douche. Alex was the definition of a dog person in Forrest’s opinion. He opened his mouth to just say that when a hand on his knee squeezed to stop him.

“Yeah, maybe.” Alex replied, polite smile firmly in place.

The topic didn’t come up again until B-something left.

“So you wanna explain yourself, Mr Clearly-You-Are-A-Dog-Person?” 

Alex rolled his eyes. “Can’t you just accept that Buffy is an exception to my not-loving-dogs rule?”

Forrest pretended to consider for a second.

“Though it is a fact that Buffy is the cutest girl on earth and she can pretty much win anybody over, I know it’s not the case. So spill. Was Charlie like, secretly hating you but pretended to like you in front of his dad?” 

Alex choked on his milkshake. “What terrible world do you live in? With this level of dog conspiracy?”

It was a deflecting move if he’d ever seen one. So he just waited.

After a minute, Alex caved.

“It was not Charlie. It was Blake.” OK, not Bill then.

“Me and Blake, we had this on and off relationship. At first it was just some fun, blowing off steam, some actions in the shadow, that kind of things. But it got somewhat more serious as the time passed. He was local based, so when we had leaves, we would sometimes go to his house to spend time together.”

“Charlie was usually with his sister, but Blake would bring him home during his leaves. So whenever I spent time there, Charlie was always with us.”

He paused, a fond smile for the dog, and continued, “He liked me instantly, and I liked him too. Like you said, I am a dog person, I like dogs, dogs like me.”

Forrest was confused. “So why...?”

Alex sighed. “I liked Charlie, but I couldn’t let myself get attached to him. Because I didn’t see myself stay in the relationship with Blake for a long time. So if I got too attached, and the breakup inevitably happened, it would be too hard for me to handle.”

OK, that was understandable. But meanwhile, that would mean...

The realization hit Forrest like a train he was totally dumbstruck.

Alex seemed to sense his surprise, and blushed. But he didn’t stop talking.

“I opened myself completely to Buffy, because I feel completely safe and steady when I’m with you. I don’t worry about losing her, because I don’t worry about losing you.”

Forrest swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat, kissed Alex, and touched their forehead together.

“Do you think we should just rename her to Buffy Long-Manes?”

Alex laughed. “That is such a terrible name.”

He kissed back. “But I like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing pet-human dynamic is sooooo hard. It took me four days to finish this somewhat short chapter. And I don’t even like the outcome very much, sigh.  
> And a side note, the scene I described (selfishly) in this chapter about Alex cuddling with Buffy is from a picture Tyler posted on his insta, where he cuddled with Dylan. It was the cutest thing!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most angsty chapter before the happy ending. Seems appropriate, right?

5.

Forrest’s lease was up in two weeks, and he hadn’t even tried to look for a new apartment yet.

Thing was, he and Alex were practically living together, they just spent their nights alternatively in his apartment or Alex’s house, depending on their work schedule or the mood.

Besides, Buffy OWNED that couch in Alex’s house at this point. No lie, anyone who wanted to sit on that couch needed to ask for her permission, Alex included.

But Alex hadn’t asked him yet. And he knew about the lease thing, Forrest made sure of it.

So here he was, blew off Alex’s dinner request and sat in wild pony, alone and miserable, just because he didn’t know if his boyfriend, who he had dated almost seven months now, wanted to take the next step with him or not. It was a little pathetic to be honest.

“Maybe I should just ask him”, he murmured to himself, needing the outspoken words to give himself courage.

“Ask him about what?” Isobel suddenly appeared to his left.

“Jesus”, he was startled, and a little bit embarrassed. He and Isobel were sort of friends now, but talking about boy problems with each other? They were so not there yet. So he deflected. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Greg were going out tonight.”

Isobel considered him for a moment, eyes insightful. Forrest sometimes felt like she could see right through him, it was unsettling to say the least. But she played along, dropping the topic.

“Gee, what are you and Alex? Teenage besties? You tell each other every little thing in your life now? Including who one’s brother goes out with on any given day?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Forrest replied, deadpan, “What else would we talk about when we go to the bathroom together, hand in hand?”

Isobel snorted. “Well, Greg had to bail on me because his brother was feeling alone and insecure tonight because he said, and I quote, ‘it’s our six months anniversary and I planned the whole thing but he chose today of all days to blow off our date. Is he gonna dump me oh my dear brother?’”

Forrest frowned. “What are you talking about? Our six months anniversary was almost three weeks ago. We had a nice dinner, we exchanged gifts. Well, I gave him a gift, he gave some toy to Buffy, but you know, PRESENTS were involved.”

“Don’t look at me. All I know is that I’m here and Greg is there. When we could’ve been having a MUCH enjoyable time right now if not for your issues, no matter what they are.”

Forrest couldn’t help himself at that point.

“If he cared so much about me, why didn’t he want me to move in with him?”

Isobel froze at that. But she recovered quickly. “Are you sure you want to talk to me about this, Long? I’m sure our friendship is so not there yet.”

He KNEW this. He just didn’t care anymore. “Why not? It’s not everyday I can talk about my boyfriend issues to said boyfriend’s ex’s sister, is it?”

Isobel sighed. “When you put it that way, it’s almost like we’re family. So go ahead. But I gotta say, I don’t know why you’re so upset, it’s only been six months. It’s within reason that he didn’t ask you to move in, no?”

Forrest shook his head. “Normally I’d agree. But for the last month or so, we haven’t spent a single night apart. We’re either in my apartment or in his house. And the lease of my apartment is up in 2 weeks. He knew this, because I TOLD him last week, but instead of asking what my plans are, he changed the subject, rather smoothly I might add, but it was still a very abrupt move.”

He went quieter. “I haven’t gathered the courage to bring up the topic ever since. And it’s not only been six months, it’s six months and three weeks.”

“Well”, Isobel also went quieter. “I don’t know much about your relationship status. But I want to quote the thing you just said, you should ask him. And maybe sort out the whole different dates on the anniversary mess?”

Forrest stared. “You are absolutely no help.”

She drank his drink, patted him on the back, and left.

Really. No help at all.

——————————————

When he parked in Alex’s driveway, Greg was already gone. Perhaps went to the ENJOYABLE TIME with Isobel. Which, eww.

He went in, using the key Alex gave him. (He had a key for god’s sake, didn’t that say something?) Buffy was lying on HER couch, not even spared a glance his way. So she took Alex’s side. Great.

Then he was met with candles and roses and wine and cold homemade meal, and a visibly upset and a little sad Alex.

OK if he was Buffy he would probably take Alex’s side too.

He felt guilty but also angry because he had done nothing he should feel guilty about, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

“It’s not our six months anniversary.”

Alex looked confused. “What? It’s definitely six months since I kissed you and we went on our first date that night.”

Forrest was cold all of a sudden.

“Wait. I thought our first date was the paint ball date?”

Now Alex was the one looked guilty. “I don’t consider it the beginning of our relationship, because at that time, I hadn’t moved on from Guerin yet. But the night when I sang that song...”

“You mean that song you wrote for him, sang it in front of him, hoping he would take you back, but got rejected, that song? So what, you think our relationship only began after you knew he was no longer a possibility?”

Forrest never hated himself more in his whole life. He was being petty, he knew. And he was hurting the love of his life for being petty. But whatever’s said, couldn’t be unsaid.

Alex’s knuckles turned white from gripping the kitchen table. He said in a controlled voice. “I think our relationship began after I was sure I wanna move on. Yes, the reason I wanted to move on was because I thought there was no chance between me and Guerin anymore. And yes, if he had not walked out of that song, you and I might not have entered our relationship. But he did walk out, and I decided to try it with you. I’m glad I made that decision.”

He took a calming breath. But his voice shook a little at the end of his words. “You know all this. I’ve been nothing but honest with you. I told you my history with Guerin, you said you wanted to fight for us. What changed?”

His greedy heart was what changed, Forrest could at least admit this to himself. He had this constant fear, always looming somewhere deep in his heart, that if Guerin ever wanted to fight for Alex back, he would WIN. 

He didn’t want to acknowledge that fear to Alex though, so he asked instead: “Why haven’t you asked me to move in with you? You knew my lease status.”

Something flicked through Alex’s eyes then, something like panic and afraid. But he was never one to avoid confrontation so he braced himself and said, “Because it’s a big step and I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Well if Forrest had ever thought he’d experienced the worst pain, he’d be wrong.

His voice was broken alongside his heart. “We’ve been living together for a month now, Alex, just in two places. I don’t understand, what more do we need to take the step? Where is this THERE?”

“I don’t know!” Alex seemed heartbroken too. Damn him. “Moving in together means we’re going steady. But I’m not steady and I can not offer steady at the moment!”

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Forrest was angry now, because what Alex said was just total bullshit. “You are the steadiest person I know! And I don’t know if you noticed, but we’ve been going steady for at least four months now!”

“Not that kind of steady!” Alex continued to not making any sense, “the kind of steady that I can share everything with you, that I know where I’d end up, that we’re having the safe and happy future we both want!”

“Wait, back up, what?” He was utterly lost. “What do you mean, end up? You told me you are very unlikely to get relocated. And after this term of your enlistment, you’ll get out and find a job here. And more importantly, what the fuck do you mean, safe? Why shouldn’t we be safe?” He didn’t want to touch the “share everything” part, not just yet.

Alex shut his eyes. “I can’t tell you that.” 

So literally “can’t share everything” huh, well it hurt like a bitch.

To add salt to the wound, because he was apparently asking for pain at this point, he asked, “Is it about Guerin?”

Alex didn’t answer that. He just stood there, eyes teary and pleading.

“So let me get this straight. You can’t move in with me because you can’t promise that we’d have a future together because you may end up dead or something, and the reason you might be in trouble even danger some day is because you are doing something for Guerin, which you can’t tell me about.”

Alex still said nothing.

Forrest should just leave, take Buffy and never turn back. But he had been a pathetic loser for Alex since day one, so he asked a last question, he practically begged: “Is there a time frame of this thing you do for him? Because I can be patient.” He even tried a lighthearted smile, he failed spectacularly.

Alex seemed SHATTERED by that. But he still shook his head.

After that, there was nothing left to say.

————————————

Turned out, it was really easy to find a new apartment in Roswell, New Mexico. 

————————————

He was writing a poem in Crashdown when Guerin showed up. He was writing a lot of poems these days since Alex and he had the argument the other day. (He hadn’t seen, talked to or heard from Alex for three weeks now, but he still refused to call it a breakup.)

So he was writing his poem and had every reason to ignore Guerin, even if he sat in the opposite seat of the booth, directly in front of him.

Guerin seemed he didn’t really want to be there either, because he cut to the chase rather quickly.

“Alex re-enlisted because he wanted to protect me and my family from the government agency that is hunting us.” He said in a rush, voice so quiet Forrest thought he must’ve misheard him.

“What?” No, that was not quite enough, “What the fuck?”

Guerin cursed under his breath. “You are not stupid and you are not slow. You understand perfectly what I said. So ask a question that has some meaning instead of just being dense.”

Fuck him. “Why are you hunted?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

Great. Time to leave.

“Wait!” Guerin half shouted, frustration evident in his voice, “Do you care more about this or do you want to know what type of trouble this could bring to Alex?”

He stilled. And sat back down.

Guerin pulled his hair, hard. “Honestly, I don’t know that either. But I know I would do everything in my power to prevent any type of danger heading his way.”

Forrest laughed, humorlessly. “No offense, but that does not assure me, like at all.”

“What do you want me to say?” Guerin was angry now, “The GOVERNMENT is hunting us. Alex was already involved, we couldn’t get him out now even if we tried. And honestly, he wouldn’t want to get out, he is stubborn like that, even if he’s now suffering from it.”

“Because he wants to protect you.”

“Because it’s the right thing to do!” 

They glared at each other, both angry and hurt.

Guerin backed down first. “He wants to protect me, and my family, yes, that is a factor why he is doing this. But not the only factor. He also wants to create his own legacy, and really, it IS the right thing to do.”

Somehow, Forrest believed him. He didn’t like him, but he believed him.

“Why are you telling me this?” He needed to know.

Guerin looked like he’d rather die than say the next bit, but he still said it. “Like I said, he’s suffering, because he thought he lost you over this.”

He then stared right into Forrest eyes, as if daring him to look away. “And I could swallow a lot of things if it means he’d be happy, you of all people should understand this, shouldn’t you?”

———————————

He left Buffy with his cousin because he wanted to have an uninterrupted conversation with Alex. She wasn’t happy about it.

But when he stood in front of Alex’s door, he suddenly lost all words. He even lost the courage to KNOCK.

The last three weeks had been the most miserable days of his life. He was only keeping himself together (barely) by insisting to himself that it was only an argument, not a definite ending. He didn’t know what he’d do if Alex decided it was in fact done and over.

He didn’t know what he’d do if those three weeks would turn into the rest of his life.

Panic struck him all at once, and he was ready to turn around and flee, when the door opened and Alex stepped out.

And he looked terrible.

He was losing weight, eyes bloodshot, hair a mess. He looked exactly like Forrest when he looked in the mirror these days.

He had so many things to say, to apologize, to blame, to yell, to beg. But no words came out. He stepped forward, as if being pulled by some invisible force, and next thing he knew, he was clutching at Alex, totally engulfed by his embrace.

He vaguely thought about loosing his grip a bit because it was really too desperate, but he was also having a little trouble breathing from Alex’s tight hug, so he let it go.

————————————

He didn’t know how long they stood there and hugged the fuck out of each other, but by the time they sat down on Buffy’s couch, he felt like a new man already.

They were sitting side by side, not exactly touching, but Alex’s hand rested beside his, he only had to move a fraction so that their pinkies would touch.

He moved that fraction. 

Alex looked down, to their now touching pinkies. He smiled, moved his hand even further to Forrest so all of their fingers entwined.

Then he said, ever so soft, “I missed you. I missed you so damn much.”

Forrest wanted to cry. He wanted to say it didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t want to know anything beyond the fact that he loved Alex and Alex loved him. He would be happy as long as he could have Alex by his side. He didn’t care about moving in or being steady. He just wanted Alex back.

But Alex surprised him by pulling him up and to the bedroom. There, in the corner, was a small bed. 

A dog bed.

Forrest was speechless. Fear and hope clogging his throat.

“I purchased it the day you left after our fight”, so he thought of it as a fight, not a breakup either. They were both idiots. “I knew then I wanted you and Buffy to move in, but I thought I couldn’t have that. Like Guerin told you, we’re up against the government, I don’t even know if I can get an honorable discharge, I can’t promise you a bright future.”

He took a deep breath. “But now I want nothing more than to ask you to move in with me.”

He should be happy, he shouldn’t ask any questions anymore. But he just needed to.

“Why? What changed?”

Alex didn’t hesitate. “The last three weeks happened, and they changed how I see things.”

“How?”

“I realized I couldn’t live without you. I also don’t want to.” 

Forrest thought he could burst from all the love and happiness he felt at that moment.

Alex tightened his grip on Forrest’s hand, he was sweating a little, which meant he was nervous as fuck, and said in a tentative voice.

“I still can’t tell you what is it about Guerin and his family, not without his permission, or how long this hunting will continue, and I still can’t promise you I’ll be safe and sound for our future together. But I’m willing to fight teeth and nail so I’d come back to you, to our home.” His voice broke, “So will you move in with me?”

He had no choice but to say yes.


	6. Chapter 6

+1

He proposed on a Saturday morning, when they were in bed, tangled up, changing smiles and kisses, after Alex told him the danger was no longer there and Guerin and his siblings were in the clear. He simply took out the ring he had bought three months ago, and asked.

“Marry me?”

And when Alex said yes, he wasn’t surprised at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally cried when I finished it.  
> And I vowed to myself that I’d NEVER write a multi chapter ever again.


End file.
